“WHAT DOES A PERSON DESERVE?”
A Film against Homelessness and Hunger

Began airing on CNN in 2003, Cindy Award, & Best Public Service Film at Santa Clarita International Film Festival

“WHAT DOES A PERSON DESERVE?," a public service film against homelessness and hunger directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ken Kimmelman, was awarded a CINDY in the 41st Annual International Cinema in Industry Competition, and was named Best Public Service Film for the Year 2000 by the Santa Clarita International Film Festival.
        The film is based on this urgent question first asked by Eli Siegel, American poet, philosopher, founder of the education Aesthetic Realism: "What does a person deserve by being alive?” Through a stirring montage of black-and-white photographs choreographed to original music by composer Edward Green, it passionately shows the unbearable suffering people are enduring, including millions of children, because of the economic injustice in America—and  it presents the solution. The film ends with these words by Eli Siegel: 

The world should be owned by the people living in it....All persons should be seen as living in a world truly theirs. 

        The film premiered at the National Summit on Homelessness in Washington, DC in 1999. Said Michael Stoops, Director of Field Organizing Projects of the National Coalition for the Homeless: “‘What Does a Person Deserve?’ is awesome. It has the potential of arousing the conscience of the American people. Eli Siegel’s statement is a wonderful philosophic point, and practical.” 
        Broadcast nationally on television, including on Bravo, and worldwide via NBC satellite, “What Does a Person Deserve?” is also being shown in movie theatres. It opened the United Nations Association Film Festivals at both Stanford University, and Monterey. The film is endorsed by the National Coalition for the Homeless; Foodchain; Aesthetic Realism Foundation; National Alliance to End Homelessness; Community Foodbank of New Jersey; and received a grant from The Harburg Foundation.
        About “What Does a Person Deserve?” Ken Kimmelman said: “I hope this film really gets into the hearts and minds of the American people unforgettably. My purpose is to help end homelessness and hunger—which never should exist for a day in a country which can provide enough food and shelter for everyone! I feel Eli Siegel’s question “What does a person deserve by being alive?” must be asked and answered honestly by everyone for there to be economic and social justice in America.”
         The film is part of the seminar “Housing—a Basic Right: Aesthetic Realism Explains America’s Housing Crisis, the Cause & the Solution!”  presented by Mr. Kimmelman, architects Dale Laurin and Anthony Romeo, and New York City Planner Barbara Buehler, which was given in 2003 at Dickinson College, PA and Boston University. It was previously presented at the American Institute of Architects Convention 2000 in Philadelphia, the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) National Conference at Harvard, and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness Conference at the University of Maryland.
        Ken Kimmelman, Director of Imagery Film, Ltd., won a 1995 Emmy Award for his anti-prejudice public service film “The Heart Knows Better” based on a vital statement by Eli Siegel, which is affecting people globally on TV, in theatres and sports stadiums—the NY Yankees show it at every game, including the World Series! He has produced films for the United Nations against racism and apartheid, and has received numerous awards, including the Newark Black Film Festival’s Paul Robeson Award and an Emmy for his contributions to Sesame Street. Mr. Kimmelman is a Consultant on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, a  not-for-profit  educational  foundation  in New York City,  and  has taught film and animation at the School of Visual Arts.